Orlando, FL July 4, 2016—The office of award-winning mystery novelist Digger Cartwright has released the transcript of Mr. Cartwright’s Independence Day speech delivered at the Thinking Outside the Boxe Champagne Summit in Orlando.

An excerpt from the transcript of Mr. Cartwright’s speech follows:
Today we mark the 240th anniversary of our declaring independence from Great Britain and establishing our own nation. The American colonies and the “commoners” had grown tired of the tyranny of the British Crown and spent the next seven years at war to secure our independence as a new and free nation. After our victory over Great Britain and in the ensuing years, our Founding Fathers drafted and the states ultimately adopted our Constitution and established our constitutional republic…

Even in the years during which the Constitution was drafted, there was an intense struggle between those Founding Fathers who supported a strong federal government and those who favored a weak federal government with the concentration of power to govern left to the states…Throughout our 240 history as a nation, successive generations have struggled with this issue, and the issue of states’ rights is one that continues to play out politically and in the courts today.

Our Founding Fathers knew what time has always shown to be the case—as the size and scope of a government increases, the rights and personal liberties of the governed diminishes. In our lives, we have seen an out of control federal government laden with career politicians and bureaucrats who manipulate the system for personal gain or for the interests of political special interest backers. States’ rights have been usurped by the increasingly powerful federal government which has become more and more detached from the will of We the People, instead focusing on what is best for those in power and their friends as opposed to what is best for the nation and We the People. All the while, our individual rights and liberties have been trampled and eroded. Many in our country have willing subrogated their rights, liberties, and states’ sovereignty to the federal government in return for financial handouts and promises of a land of milk and honey…

While the system has functioned largely as it was designed to do so by our Founding Fathers, the increasing concentration of power at all levels of the federal government, career politicians, and bureaucrats, the weakening of states’ rights, and the financially powerful special interest groups have led to a dangerously destabilized political system. In the last two decades, it seems the thirst for more power, more personal gain, and more self preservation have blurred the political lines between the Democrat and Republican parties.

While publicly stated ideologies may be diametrically opposed, the parties have abandoned these ideologies and doing the work of the people in favor of joining together for self preservation. The Democrats and Republicans perpetuate their dog and pony shows for publicity purposes but when the cameras are off and the doors are closed, the career politicians are working together to enrich themselves, their friends, and their special interest backers, and to preserve their grip on power. They have become drunk and corrupted with the trappings of Washington, DC and the financial benefits of playing the political game. They have become increasingly detached from the outside world and its problems and live in an isolated ivory tower in Washington. There is no longer a distinct Democrat and Republic party. There is only one party. It is known as the party of Washington. They have become the defacto elite that our Founding Fathers fought against to secure our freedom as a nation…

Both parties have led their constituents down the garden path with false promises, handouts, and political spin. And when challenged on any issue, they denigrate the commoners who don’t know what’s good for them or what’s best for the country. They have become insufferably arrogant. We the People don’t know what we’re talking about. We the People are intellectually inferior to the politicians in Washington. We the People aren’t smart enough to make our own decisions so the elites in Washington have to make those decisions for us and tell us how to live our lives. We the People don’t know what’s important, and We the People don’t know how to solve America’s collective problems. Those who dare to offer views contrary to the wisdom of Washington or to challenge that wisdom are branded as stupid, uneducated, racist, bigots.

In short, We the People don’t matter anymore. We the People have had our voices largely silenced. We the People aren’t capable of governing ourselves and making informed decisions. We the People must be controlled and manipulated and told what is in our best interests. We the People are the modern day commoners while those in Washington are the modern day elites dictating to the commoners and the states…

The choice is clear. If We the People do nothing, the party of Washington and the elites will grow all powerful and our ability to influence the direction of our country will cease. If We the People have our voices heard in the coming election and elections to come after that, we can weaken the elites’ and the party of Washington’s grip on power and begin to restore our personal liberties, rights, and our constitutional republic…

About Mr. Cartwright—Digger Cartwright is the award-winning author of several mystery stories, teleplays, and novels including The Versailles Conspiracy, a modern day political thriller, Murder at the Ocean Forest, a traditional mystery novel set in the 1940s, The House of Dark Shadows, a psychological thriller, The Maynwarings: A Game of Chance, a mystery set in the Old West, and Conversations on the Bench, an inspirational/motivational novel. His books are available in hardback, paperback, and e-book format through his website, http://www.DiggerCartwright.com, on-line booksellers and bookstores. The House of Dark Shadows and Conversations on the Bench both won first place in various categories in the 2015 Regional Excellence Book Awards. Conversations on the Bench also won first place in the 2016 Regional Excellence Book Awards. The House of Dark Shadows and Conversations on the Bench both won silver medals in the 2015 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards.

In addition to the IndieReader Discovery Award, The Maynwarnings: A Game of Chance received two USA Regional Excellence Book Awards (2015 & 2016). It was also a finalist in the Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards (2015), the Beverly Hills Book Awards (2015) and the 9th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards (2015).

Mr. Cartwright has contributed to a number of articles on a wide range of financial, strategic planning, and policy topics. He frequently contributes articles, commentaries, and editorials focusing on current economic and political topics for the private think tank, Thinking Outside the Boxe.

Mr. Cartwright is an enthusiastic supporter of local no-kill animal shelters and various animal causes.

He enjoys golf, participating in charity golf tournaments, and attending WWE events. He divides his time between South Carolina and Florida.

John Adams

"Be not intimidated, therefore, by any terrors, from publishing with the utmost freedom whatever can be warranted by the laws of your country, nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberty by any pretenses of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery, and cowardice."